I have been looking at the Benelli M4's for a long time debating on if they are worth the $1600 price tag. I recently stumbled across the new FNH SLP and began doing research. There are a ton of positive reviews and write ups on them, but for those who did the same comparison, or who have experience with them, is the FNH SLP on the same level as the Benelli M4 as far as combat shotguns go?

I've owned an SLP for 3 years. I've run it alongside a Benelli and it works equally as well with less recoil. You'll find a lot of 3-gun shooters using the SLP if that matters.

I have the 18-inch barrel and a 28-inch barrel for mine and use it occasionally for trap. My suggestion would be to send it to SRM Performance Products for installation of a Sure Cycle system and have them do a reliability tune-up if you want the ultimate in performance out of it.

They will install the Sure Cycle recoil system and modify the gas pistons to eliminate the spring inside the piston. They will also lap the bolt and receiver. With the SRM work, I use the heavy gas piston and the gun will run 1 oz #8 shot trap loads through Brenneke Black Magic slugs without changing the piston.

I would also suggest using a Briley IVNX2-SK choke that is a rifled diffusion choke if you're going to use it for defensive purposes. It patterns buckshot better than a smooth cylinder bore or improved cylinder choke.

I have a friend who is a shotgun afficiando who has Brownings and Berettas, including a Beretta UGB25 EXcel 2-shot automatic, and his original Browning A5, along with a number of over / under trap and sporting clays guns - and he loves the SLP.

What do you want to know, or need to find out since your statement is rather undefined?

The gun is fast enough with 1-1/2 oz loads that you can get 5 empty hulls in the air simultaneously if you can pull the trigger that quickly. Recoil is low because it is a gas operated gun, and can be reduced further by the Sure Cycle system.

If you want to increase the capacity of the gun for 3-gun, get the 22-inch barrel version and put the RCI X-Rail system on it. That is a 14 round magazine system that replaces the forearm. With a 26-inch barrel you can install a 22 shot XRail system.

I bought one not long after they first came out. Haven't shot it a lot but haven't had any issues with it. I like it but I usually run 870s so I haven't done a lot with the SLP.

There was one the the one-day Shotgun Refresher class I took with Louis Awerbuck in September. Its owner had been slack on maintenance, for a good while apparently, and it started choking up/failing to function shortly after noon (on a Rolling Thunder drill, naturally). A little ATF and a rag seemed to take care of the carbon problem... but it could and should have been avoided. If you're gonna shoot a gas gun, clean it...

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but it could and should have been avoided. If you're gonna shoot a gas gun, clean it...

Absolutely - you have to maintain the gun as required for it to be reliable. I've run mine 500 rounds between cleaning with no problems. But, I also keep it lubricated properly.

The only thing that really needs cleaning is the gas piston and ports. You can get to the gas piston in less than 30 seconds as the forearm cap unscrews, you pull off the forearm and the gas piston is accessible.

You can also pull the barrel out of the receiver at the same time to get to the bolt and clean the barrel.

I use SLiP 2000 Choke Tube Cleaner. It comes in a jar and I take out the choke and piston, put them in the jar and continue cleaning and lubing the gun. When I'm ready to reassemble the gun, I take the choke and piston out of the jar, brush them clean, dry them, lubricate and install them back into the gun.

The weak point of the gun is the pistons if you shoot it a lot - like thousands of rounds per month. The pistons have a spring in them and the spring fatigues and finally breaks. The way you know this has happened is the gun requires heavier loads to cycle.

What SRM Performance does as part of their reliability / performance tuneup is remove the spring in each gas piston, replace the spring with a custom part and adjust the gas ports in the pistons to run without the spring.

The gun functions exactly the same, but the weak point (piston springs) has been removed so it is no longer a concern. The spring is there as a recoil reduction measure it's not really needed for the gun to function.

The Sure Cycle recoil system replaces the recoil spring with an enclosed system that never wears out, and manages recoil better, with the bonus of closing the bolt faster so the cycle time of the gun is reduced.

Patrick Flanigan said in an interview that he would go 2,500 plus with his SX3 before cleaning. I like the 930s but I notice he has not broken any of his SX3 records with his 930. He did set a pump action record with his 500.

What are you going to use the shotgun for? Are you planning on shooting 3gun? I would get the FN. There's a new competition SLP coming out, but the details have been sketchy. The price is going to be around $1200 for the new FN SLP.

Never shot a Beretta and the only Benelli I've ran was my pump. That being said, my SLP has performed very well for me. I've ran it through two 4 day training courses, the later consuming a bit over 750 rounds. The only thing I did was to apply a bit of lube during the course. The advanced course was nothing but semi-autos and the SLP matched all of them shot for shot. I've put about 3K rounds through mine in the past couple of years....not much compared to some folks....but it keeps on running....and it cycles the reduced recoil (1200 FPS) 1 oz slugs quite nicely.

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